The Stuff of Thought

The Stuff of Thought: Language As a Window Into Human Nature is a New York Times best-selling book by Harvard experimental psychologist Steven Pinker published in 2007. It is his fifth book on the topics of language and cognitive science written for a general audience. In it, Pinker "analyzes how our words relate to thoughts and to the world around us and reveals what this tells us about ourselves." Put another way, Pinker "probes the mystery of ... more

The Stuff of Thought: Language As a Window Into Human Nature is a New York Times best-selling book by Harvard experimental psychologist Steven Pinker published in 2007. It is his fifth book on the topics of language and cognitive science written for a general audience. In it, Pinker "analyzes how our words relate to thoughts and to the world around us and reveals what this tells us about ourselves." Put another way, Pinker "probes the mystery of human nature by examining how we use words". Pinker argues that language provides a window on human nature, and that "analyzing language can reveal what people are thinking and feeling." He asserts that language must do two things: Therefore, language functions at these two levels at all times. For example, a common-place statement such as, "If you could pass the salt, that would be great," functions as both a request (though none is inherent to that statement) and a means of being polite or non-offensive (through not directing the audience to... less